Presidential Directive 59 (herein later PD-59) was signed by Jimmy Carter and made effective in 1980. Within weeks details of Carter’s PD’s were leaked to the press and made the front page of newspapers across the country including the New York Times. Now the PD-59 has been fully declassified and the extensive documentation can be found on the National Security Archive blog at George Washington University here.

Excerpted from the report:

The National Security Archive obtained the virtually unexpurgated document in response to a mandatory declassification review request to the Jimmy Carter Library [See Document 12]. Highly classified for years, PD 59 was signed during a period of heightened Cold War tensions owing to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, greater instability in the Middle East, and earlier strains over China policy, human rights, the Horn of Africa, and Euromissiles.

With other recently declassified material related to PD-59, today’s publication helps settle the mystery of what Jimmy Carter actually signed, [1] as well as shedding light on the origins of PD-59 and some of its consequences. Among the disclosures are a variety of fascinating insights about the thinking of key U.S. officials about the state of nuclear planning and the possible progression of events should war break out

Bin Laden and The Haqqani: Who knew?

On the anniversary of 9/11 The National Security Archive also released “The Haqqani History: Bin Ladin’s Advocate Inside the Taliban.“ An interesting read considering the Obama administration is currently attempting to negotiate with the Taliban and the State Department has labeled the Haqqani network a terror group. Prior to that designation by the State Dept we uploaded the report on Haqqani Network financing courtesy of the Counter-Terrorism Center at West Point to our “Document Dump” (see picture in sidebar for full archive as well as updates with newly leaked documents as well as unclassified reports)